All Blog Posts Tagged 'Melissa' - Home Energy Pros2015-08-02T21:07:03Zhttp://homeenergypros.lbl.gov/profiles/blog/feed?tag=Melissa&xn_auth=noGreen Premium - Price Bump for Green Homes & Schrödinger’s Cattag:homeenergypros.lbl.gov,2015-03-14:6069565:BlogPost:1774472015-03-14T15:00:00.000ZMelissa Baldridgehttp://homeenergypros.lbl.gov/profile/MelissaBaldridge61
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vRWi3e17RGpJ9KzH2Btoa*Y1nR5hgRbw-H0yzq2WhGeBNN5ZPWJxh-ff1UcZPAKcBWePltnxxVQBme5b4Hq*rst3B5-mgTLU/CEO.png" target="_self"></a></p>
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vRWi3e17RGrN3oTmzdHlyDkiiER1OWROs4FCQm65pJxu65AZRb*ThIdpYSipJYuD0r5q*1yCWkYfFI0GmaBNxgi6dCpCZ17I/CEO.png" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vRWi3e17RGrN3oTmzdHlyDkiiER1OWROs4FCQm65pJxu65AZRb*ThIdpYSipJYuD0r5q*1yCWkYfFI0GmaBNxgi6dCpCZ17I/CEO.png" width="517"></img></a> A valuation premium for green homes and energy efficiency is a lot like Schrödinger’s cat, says a new study released by the Colorado Energy Office. If…</p>
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vRWi3e17RGpJ9KzH2Btoa*Y1nR5hgRbw-H0yzq2WhGeBNN5ZPWJxh-ff1UcZPAKcBWePltnxxVQBme5b4Hq*rst3B5-mgTLU/CEO.png" target="_self"></a></p>
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vRWi3e17RGrN3oTmzdHlyDkiiER1OWROs4FCQm65pJxu65AZRb*ThIdpYSipJYuD0r5q*1yCWkYfFI0GmaBNxgi6dCpCZ17I/CEO.png" target="_self"><img src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vRWi3e17RGrN3oTmzdHlyDkiiER1OWROs4FCQm65pJxu65AZRb*ThIdpYSipJYuD0r5q*1yCWkYfFI0GmaBNxgi6dCpCZ17I/CEO.png" width="517" class="align-center"/></a>A valuation premium for green homes and energy efficiency is a lot like Schrödinger’s cat, says a new study released by the Colorado Energy Office. If you expect to see a high-performance home sell and appraise for more, it probably will.</p>
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vRWi3e17RGpJ9KzH2Btoa*Y1nR5hgRbw-H0yzq2WhGeBNN5ZPWJxh-ff1UcZPAKcBWePltnxxVQBme5b4Hq*rst3B5-mgTLU/CEO.png" target="_self"></a></p>
<p>Getting a valuation bump for high-performance homes has been elusive for many builders and developers. But the peer-reviewed appraisal study shows that growing levels of energy efficiency in homes have additional “contributory value,” and that trend will continue as data rolls in from the marketplace.</p>
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vRWi3e17RGpJ9KzH2Btoa*Y1nR5hgRbw-H0yzq2WhGeBNN5ZPWJxh-ff1UcZPAKcBWePltnxxVQBme5b4Hq*rst3B5-mgTLU/CEO.png" target="_self"></a></p>
<p>Author and appraiser Lisa Desmarais, who also wrote a <a href="http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite%3Fblobcol%3Durldata%26blobheadername1%3DContent-Disposition%26blobheadername2%3DContent-Type%26blobheadervalue1%3Dinline%3B%2Bfilename%253D%2522PV_Case%2BStudies.pdf%2522%26blobheadervalue2%3Dapplication/pdf%26blobkey%3Did%26blobtable%3DMungoBlobs%26blobwhere%3D1251900073057%26ssbinary%3Dtrue" target="_blank">solar valuation study in 2013</a>, says that solar wasn’t cool, to say nothing of valued, in appraisals. Until it was.</p>
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vRWi3e17RGpJ9KzH2Btoa*Y1nR5hgRbw-H0yzq2WhGeBNN5ZPWJxh-ff1UcZPAKcBWePltnxxVQBme5b4Hq*rst3B5-mgTLU/CEO.png" target="_self"></a></p>
<p>“You have to pay attention to energy efficiency. Every appraiser used to say solar added zero value. Now they act like they knew it all along," she says. “I think this is similar to looking at real estate trends. All this is moving in the same direction, but we haven’t seen it pop." </p>
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vRWi3e17RGpJ9KzH2Btoa*Y1nR5hgRbw-H0yzq2WhGeBNN5ZPWJxh-ff1UcZPAKcBWePltnxxVQBme5b4Hq*rst3B5-mgTLU/CEO.png" target="_self"></a></p>
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vRWi3e17RGq8Iw5xO7XzuMewYhZ8RdfTOMd2hsl4BZHwp9ntSPXBFBM0A6-utpg5ATaVEnGwlqw8D9qKBwxl*WVrucu45QMa/GreenAppraisal.jpg" target="_self"><img src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vRWi3e17RGq8Iw5xO7XzuMewYhZ8RdfTOMd2hsl4BZHwp9ntSPXBFBM0A6-utpg5ATaVEnGwlqw8D9qKBwxl*WVrucu45QMa/GreenAppraisal.jpg" width="414" class="align-left"/></a>The report is exhaustive, and she boiled it down from hundreds of pages to a manageable 200, thankfully avoiding appraiser-speak and jargon. She surveyed hundreds of area homes, looking for data from the multiple listing services (MLS), appraisals, HERS ratings, energy audits and interviews with real estate professionals. </p>
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vRWi3e17RGpJ9KzH2Btoa*Y1nR5hgRbw-H0yzq2WhGeBNN5ZPWJxh-ff1UcZPAKcBWePltnxxVQBme5b4Hq*rst3B5-mgTLU/CEO.png" target="_self"></a></p>
<p>The studied homes in Denver/Boulder ranged from $200,000 to $1.2 million, and from 900 to 3,000 square feet. What linked them was their emphasis on energy efficiency – in the designed elements, the languaging about those features, and the data trail when the houses sold.</p>
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vRWi3e17RGpJ9KzH2Btoa*Y1nR5hgRbw-H0yzq2WhGeBNN5ZPWJxh-ff1UcZPAKcBWePltnxxVQBme5b4Hq*rst3B5-mgTLU/CEO.png" target="_self"></a></p>
<p>Desmarais makes an important distinction between systems efficiency (anything that saves energy or water and can be measured) and softer green features (harder-to-quantify traits like healthier indoor air, walkability, smaller construction waste streams and structure durability.) The study finds both efficiency and green features add value to homes. </p>
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vRWi3e17RGpJ9KzH2Btoa*Y1nR5hgRbw-H0yzq2WhGeBNN5ZPWJxh-ff1UcZPAKcBWePltnxxVQBme5b4Hq*rst3B5-mgTLU/CEO.png" target="_self"></a></p>
<p>One big takeaway is that home performance and energy efficiency are often invisible systems, an interplay of many elements that can’t always be seen by the untrained. </p>
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vRWi3e17RGpJ9KzH2Btoa*Y1nR5hgRbw-H0yzq2WhGeBNN5ZPWJxh-ff1UcZPAKcBWePltnxxVQBme5b4Hq*rst3B5-mgTLU/CEO.png" target="_self"></a></p>
<p>One example is a BFF of mine (not in the study) who has a rambling Victorian home, built in the 1890s in central Denver – leaded glass windows on the verge of collapse, a leaky house that can’t hold a steady temperature, and an upstairs attic space with 15 percent of the insulation required. Yet she has a 97% efficient furnace and LED lights. Is the house efficient? No. Does it have efficient features? Yep. It's paradoxes like these that have tripped up appraisers and real estate professionals until now.</p>
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vRWi3e17RGpJ9KzH2Btoa*Y1nR5hgRbw-H0yzq2WhGeBNN5ZPWJxh-ff1UcZPAKcBWePltnxxVQBme5b4Hq*rst3B5-mgTLU/CEO.png" target="_self"></a></p>
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vRWi3e17RGps9IbEY-C*bMYa4iQEf6YNsXGFubS2q4rrgFOUBvORD5gc1CzoEwvcYawhVTGNM0mhX9vZW2EJwqukP-djcWNe/Wyandot.jpg" target="_self"><img src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vRWi3e17RGps9IbEY-C*bMYa4iQEf6YNsXGFubS2q4rrgFOUBvORD5gc1CzoEwvcYawhVTGNM0mhX9vZW2EJwqukP-djcWNe/Wyandot.jpg" width="375" class="align-right"/></a>To give appraisers an additional handle for this specialty, Desmarais took the Fannie Mae “condition” and “quality” rating labels and created a six-tier efficiency scale. The quick-and-dirty thumbnail should help non-expert real estate pros estimate a home’s energy use.</p>
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vRWi3e17RGpJ9KzH2Btoa*Y1nR5hgRbw-H0yzq2WhGeBNN5ZPWJxh-ff1UcZPAKcBWePltnxxVQBme5b4Hq*rst3B5-mgTLU/CEO.png" target="_self"></a></p>
<p>Another critical point Desmarais makes is that it’s a super idea to work with an energy professional (like a HERS rater or energy auditor). That input is vital to identifying and quantifying these features. As a contributor to the study, I put a company shirt on Desmarais and had her tag along with me on a HERS rating so she could experience the process and minutiae of producing an energy model. </p>
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vRWi3e17RGpJ9KzH2Btoa*Y1nR5hgRbw-H0yzq2WhGeBNN5ZPWJxh-ff1UcZPAKcBWePltnxxVQBme5b4Hq*rst3B5-mgTLU/CEO.png" target="_self"></a></p>
<p><b><i>CAPTIONS (above): Green Leaf Plans courtesy of NAHBNow.com. One of our clients renovated and certified this 1924 home in central Denver. A National Green Building Standard emerald-level home, it sold and appraised at a premium. </i></b> </p>
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vRWi3e17RGpJ9KzH2Btoa*Y1nR5hgRbw-H0yzq2WhGeBNN5ZPWJxh-ff1UcZPAKcBWePltnxxVQBme5b4Hq*rst3B5-mgTLU/CEO.png" target="_self"></a></p>
<p>While the study is great news for those of us living in places where green homes matter, do folks living where that's not the case have any hope? B/c of cheap kilowatt hours? Politics? Fossil fuel-centrism? Yes, if for no other reason than as the coasts and inland emerald cities (like Denver, Chicago and Atlanta) surge forward, these bellwether places will pull the rest of the country.</p>
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vRWi3e17RGpJ9KzH2Btoa*Y1nR5hgRbw-H0yzq2WhGeBNN5ZPWJxh-ff1UcZPAKcBWePltnxxVQBme5b4Hq*rst3B5-mgTLU/CEO.png" target="_self"></a></p>
<p>Desmarais says, regardless of where folks live, real estate pros must put this critical data in the MLS where appraisers can find it. Selling a green home? Put energy audits in there, HERS ratings (yes, all 50 – 60 pages, or more), marketing pieces, ALL OF IT. [ENERGY RATERS AND REAL ESTATE SALESPEOPLE, SHE’S TALKING TO YOU.]</p>
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vRWi3e17RGpJ9KzH2Btoa*Y1nR5hgRbw-H0yzq2WhGeBNN5ZPWJxh-ff1UcZPAKcBWePltnxxVQBme5b4Hq*rst3B5-mgTLU/CEO.png" target="_self"></a></p>
<p>“Energy efficiency will continue to grow in importance,” she says. “We need your energy documents. Put them in the MLS.”</p>
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vRWi3e17RGpJ9KzH2Btoa*Y1nR5hgRbw-H0yzq2WhGeBNN5ZPWJxh-ff1UcZPAKcBWePltnxxVQBme5b4Hq*rst3B5-mgTLU/CEO.png" target="_self"></a></p>
<p>- Melissa Baldridge</p>
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vRWi3e17RGpJ9KzH2Btoa*Y1nR5hgRbw-H0yzq2WhGeBNN5ZPWJxh-ff1UcZPAKcBWePltnxxVQBme5b4Hq*rst3B5-mgTLU/CEO.png" target="_self"></a></p>
<p>To download the study, An Early Look at Energy Efficiency and Contributory Value, <a href="http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/GovEnergyOffice/CBON/1251597774824" target="_self">CLICK HERE</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vRWi3e17RGpJ9KzH2Btoa*Y1nR5hgRbw-H0yzq2WhGeBNN5ZPWJxh-ff1UcZPAKcBWePltnxxVQBme5b4Hq*rst3B5-mgTLU/CEO.png" target="_self"></a></p>
<p>GreenSpot is an industry leader in getting a premium for high-performance homes and buildings. </p>
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vRWi3e17RGpJ9KzH2Btoa*Y1nR5hgRbw-H0yzq2WhGeBNN5ZPWJxh-ff1UcZPAKcBWePltnxxVQBme5b4Hq*rst3B5-mgTLU/CEO.png" target="_self"></a></p>
<p><a href="http://bit.ly/1ChoASV" target="_blank">CONTACT US TODAY</a> if we can help you. We see the cat. (Melissa@GreenSpotRE.com) </p>
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vRWi3e17RGpJ9KzH2Btoa*Y1nR5hgRbw-H0yzq2WhGeBNN5ZPWJxh-ff1UcZPAKcBWePltnxxVQBme5b4Hq*rst3B5-mgTLU/CEO.png" target="_self"> </a></p>Off-the-Shelf – LEED & National Green Building Standard as Residential Building Codetag:homeenergypros.lbl.gov,2014-06-15:6069565:BlogPost:1590342014-06-15T00:43:26.000ZMelissa Baldridgehttp://homeenergypros.lbl.gov/profile/MelissaBaldridge61
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/8W5ARlmXvRml--XSIRRqEoabQOUWhN50--lqYZIDE0F14mEGM3opzc1D2YpEIZN*s1RX9oakyIE01cFzFonL3z0j1XTkFMeY/LEEDSilverLogo.jpg" target="_self"><img class="align-right" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/8W5ARlmXvRml--XSIRRqEoabQOUWhN50--lqYZIDE0F14mEGM3opzc1D2YpEIZN*s1RX9oakyIE01cFzFonL3z0j1XTkFMeY/LEEDSilverLogo.jpg?width=220" width="220"></img></a> Cities grafting green-building certifications like LEED into commercial building codes is nothing new, and a number of places like Dallas, Atlanta, Boston and Scottsdale have had such requirements in place for a decade or more.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What’s happening now is that cities are doing likewise with…</p>
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/8W5ARlmXvRml--XSIRRqEoabQOUWhN50--lqYZIDE0F14mEGM3opzc1D2YpEIZN*s1RX9oakyIE01cFzFonL3z0j1XTkFMeY/LEEDSilverLogo.jpg" target="_self"><img src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/8W5ARlmXvRml--XSIRRqEoabQOUWhN50--lqYZIDE0F14mEGM3opzc1D2YpEIZN*s1RX9oakyIE01cFzFonL3z0j1XTkFMeY/LEEDSilverLogo.jpg?width=220" class="align-right" width="220"/></a>Cities grafting green-building certifications like LEED into commercial building codes is nothing new, and a number of places like Dallas, Atlanta, Boston and Scottsdale have had such requirements in place for a decade or more.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What’s happening now is that cities are doing likewise with residential building, and one affluent enclave close to Denver is even rebating a portion of building permits for owners and builders achieving certification.</p>
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<p>There are a number of benefits to using an off-the-shelf green-building certification. Rather than invent yet another green code, building departments can grab a proven certification and implement it quickly. The City of Longmont, Colo. (near Boulder), required the 2008 version of the National Green Building Standard for all new residential construction greater than 800 square feet. The current version of NGBS (2012) is arguably harder to achieve, and it’s unclear whether the city will continue to require the new-and-improved version next year or not. Still, anyone building new residential construction there not only gets a certificate of occupancy (CO) at completion but a nationally recognized green-building cert, which can add market value to properties in a sale or refinance.[i]</p>
<p> </p>
<p>For brave cities and counties that have forged their own green-building codes, using known certifications can provide an easier alternative to knock out a lot of their green requirements – things like construction waste diversion, insulation levels, and efficiency of appliances, mechanical systems, and lighting.</p>
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<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/8W5ARlmXvRleQau5469stMgHoa2OZzcNJxd9NuDr3WPFuxlFtRNsdud8iZWJErOhGAfC3marDpEJjcEOaO0tlw1Jk9oqLjh4/BoulderLogo.jpg" target="_self"><img src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/8W5ARlmXvRleQau5469stMgHoa2OZzcNJxd9NuDr3WPFuxlFtRNsdud8iZWJErOhGAfC3marDpEJjcEOaO0tlw1Jk9oqLjh4/BoulderLogo.jpg" class="align-left" width="160"/></a>Boulder’s “Green Points” super-code is essentially straight out of the LEED for Homes playbook. (Did code officials literally sit down with the LEED book in creating their “Green Points” program? I estimate 85 percent or more of the points are identical.)</p>
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<p>If a builder chooses to go the LEED route, they still have to mitigate construction waste (which also adds LEED points) and meet certain HERS rating requirements. HERS ratings are the “miles-per-gallon” number for homes that undergirds most green-home certs like LEED and NGBS. In 2013, 50 percent of ALL new construction nationwide had them.[ii] Driving HERS ratings DOWN also adds points in a LEED tally. Like in Longmont, Boulder homeowners get both a CO and LEED certification when the home passes final inspection.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The City of Cherry Hills Village is an anomaly. A super-affluent suburb south of Denver, the six-and-a-half-square-mile city has approximately 2,000 single- and multi-family homes. The mean house price there (2011) is $1 million-plus. And of the 14 single-family, new construction building permits issued in 2012, the average permit price was $1.5 million.[iii]</p>
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<p>Perhaps wanting to promote a more environmentally friendly building model, the Cherry Hills Village city council passed an ordinance in January, offering <a href="http://www.cherryhillsvillage.com/ngbs.aspx">rebates on building permits</a> for NGBS certification for projects reaching the various levels of certification. Only a handful of other building departments in the country offer any kind of financial incentives for green-built homes.</p>
<p><br/> <a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/8W5ARlmXvRngHiOkzdsUyn52WIEwTTDnAl2vUWtSFhoi9-xIjtUDEIyvjJrvjVsWhIEtPJvU6Sj4p9JBc7E5*spBSxej7F6Y/HIGreenPartnerstacked_RGB.jpg" target="_self"><img src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/8W5ARlmXvRngHiOkzdsUyn52WIEwTTDnAl2vUWtSFhoi9-xIjtUDEIyvjJrvjVsWhIEtPJvU6Sj4p9JBc7E5*spBSxej7F6Y/HIGreenPartnerstacked_RGB.jpg?width=200" class="align-right" width="200"/></a>One (unintended?) consequence of third-party certification is that building departments are effectively outsourcing energy code compliance – the time, expense and liability. The building departments I work with, though, are inundated now that home building is on the uptick. This can only help shift the workload of these good people so inspections can clip along.</p>
<p></p>
<p>An additional note - the 2015 version of the residential energy code offers HERS ratings as an alternate compliance path. 'Again a fork in a decision tree between merely getting a CO or a measurement that can raise home value (the HERS index). Even if owners are planning on staying in their homes forever, the enhanced valuation can help lift them out of private mortgage insurance range (PMI usually less than 20 percent equity in a property) or set up a home equity line of credit.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>- Melissa Baldridge</p>
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<p>[i] I’ve written extensively about this on the GreenSpot Real Estate website blog page. <a href="mailto:Melissa@YourGreenSpot.com?subject=I%27d%20Like%20to%20Know%20More%20about%20Green-Building%20Certification">CLICK HERE</a> for more information.</p>
<p>[ii] For more information on the Home Energy Rating System (HERS), <a href="http://www.hersindex.com/">CLICK HERE</a>.</p>
<p>[iii] Data from <a href="http://www.city-data.com/">http://www.city-data.com/</a> for Cherry Hills Village.</p>Green Stamps - Real Estate Investor Sells "Green-and-Flips" for Moretag:homeenergypros.lbl.gov,2013-10-16:6069565:BlogPost:1392782013-10-16T22:00:00.000ZMelissa Baldridgehttp://homeenergypros.lbl.gov/profile/MelissaBaldridge61
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/l8tah2vExAW0yxytNgpmiB5dWrGrEo3f-8d34UKnS6JI5kwAHPsWGxK6O1WLzZ2Dip0Gw0GsFBJMHYqGOC5zIXEteSy*suJ4/GSESPelley_908S.Jasmine_POSTKITCHEN.jpg" target="_self"><img class="align-right" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/l8tah2vExAW0yxytNgpmiB5dWrGrEo3f-8d34UKnS6JI5kwAHPsWGxK6O1WLzZ2Dip0Gw0GsFBJMHYqGOC5zIXEteSy*suJ4/GSESPelley_908S.Jasmine_POSTKITCHEN.jpg?width=350" width="350"></img></a> Real estate investor Kassi Pelley had bought and sold a number of “fix-and-flip” homes in metro Denver when she fell down the rabbit hole of green building and certifications. She’s gotten a price bump – the “green premium” – on every home she’s upgraded and certified since, and she hasn’t…</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/l8tah2vExAW0yxytNgpmiB5dWrGrEo3f-8d34UKnS6JI5kwAHPsWGxK6O1WLzZ2Dip0Gw0GsFBJMHYqGOC5zIXEteSy*suJ4/GSESPelley_908S.Jasmine_POSTKITCHEN.jpg"><img class="align-right" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/l8tah2vExAW0yxytNgpmiB5dWrGrEo3f-8d34UKnS6JI5kwAHPsWGxK6O1WLzZ2Dip0Gw0GsFBJMHYqGOC5zIXEteSy*suJ4/GSESPelley_908S.Jasmine_POSTKITCHEN.jpg?width=350" width="350"/></a>Real estate investor Kassi Pelley had bought and sold a number of “fix-and-flip” homes in metro Denver when she fell down the rabbit hole of green building and certifications. She’s gotten a price bump – the “green premium” – on every home she’s upgraded and certified since, and she hasn’t looked back.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I had heard about energy audits, and I was Googling companies that provide service in Denver,” she says when she found us. “I didn’t really know what I was getting into. Initially, I thought it would be nice to have an edge on the market, have something different … It gave me a lot of insight into why green homes are important, and that was awesome.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Her first “green-and-flip” property was a 1958 ranch-style house built in the Virginia Vale neighborhood of Denver. <a href="http://www.yourgreenspot.com/">I did the initial HERS “miles-per-gallon” rating</a> on the house before any of her contractors started swinging hammers, and the house came in at a massive 254. That meant the house used two and a half times more energy than a house built to code<a href="#_edn1" title="">[i]</a>. And basically it had nothing in it – no insulation in any of the walls, about four inches in the attic, single-pane metal windows, and a 40-year-old furnace. Pelley decided which features she would upgrade above code, and I provided her a projected HERS rating, helping her hone her upgraded scope of work.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ms. Pelley also chose to certify the home under the <a href="http://www.homeinnovation.com/green">National Green Building Standard (NGBS)</a> “green remodel” path, meaning she demonstrated energy and water savings in her appliance, lighting, mechanical system and water fixture choices. </p>
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<p><em><strong>IMAGES: TOP, Remodeled kitchen at 908 S. Jasmine St., NGBS bronze level. Green isn't lipstick on a pig. Investors must still have a good location, layout and level of finish to sell well. MIDDLE, 4344 Wyandot St., NGBS-certified emerald. BOTTOM, National Green Building Standard logo</strong></em></p>
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<p><a target="_self" href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/l8tah2vExAXG2-p0qk575-IEV3q*ynG3o0cilbCGylstXc0z3L-DjkiFoeVwSYZCAijgqA9r*FPGQlkC9cwKDzHWeTVTgI6D/GSESNGBS_PelleyKassi_4344Wyandot_PostPic1.jpg"><img class="align-left" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/l8tah2vExAXG2-p0qk575-IEV3q*ynG3o0cilbCGylstXc0z3L-DjkiFoeVwSYZCAijgqA9r*FPGQlkC9cwKDzHWeTVTgI6D/GSESNGBS_PelleyKassi_4344Wyandot_PostPic1.jpg?width=325" width="325"/></a>The property came in at the NGBS bronze level because she reduced energy use by 66 percent and water use by 25 percent, and she spent a total of $65,000 on the remodel, including green features. The net present value of the energy savings the house would render came in at $17,000 – an important number generated from the HERS because it can be added to an appraiser’s valuation.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She initially listed the house for $350,000 but dropped the price to $335,000 because of buyer feedback about electrical towers nearby in a green space. The house sold for $335,000.<a href="#_edn2" title="">[ii]</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Also a Realtor, Ms. Pelley requested an appraiser trained and tested in green valuation, but the appraiser didn’t use a “green-field addendum” or the HERS energy savings in the valuation. We advised Ms. Pelley to appeal the $322,000 valuation because <a href="https://www.fanniemae.com/content/fact_sheet/appraisal-guidance.pdf">the appraiser lacked the “competence” for this “complex” property</a>, and the lender sent another appraiser.<a href="#_edn3" title="">[iii]</a> My partner and <a href="http://greenspotre.com/">our sister company’s</a> managing real estate broker, <a href="http://greenspotre.com/Agents/Tracye/?search=true">Tracye Herrington</a>, met the second appraiser on site and walked him through the home’s green features and HERS energy savings. The second appraisal came back at $335,000, the final sale price.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>To be sure, green-certified renovation properties are a sliver of the market, and the Buildfax Remodeling Index pegs the <a href="http://www.buildfax.com/public/remodeling/index.html">annual number of remodeled properties</a> at 3,514,000 (by number of building permits, not necessarily all for sale). Home Innovation Research Labs, the overseeing body for the NGBS standard, says less than 500 have received “green remodel” certification under its old 2008 standard. (The new 2012 standard went into effect this summer.)</p>
<p> </p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/l8tah2vExAVzUpOvQ4ML*X2*IDCe*e7PExJg43IY5urYGk7zBaXZMfvTRmEuJg3*BUAmF4wOC6UPvtK1wgh5CuSej-95n05s/HIGreenPartnerstacked_RGB.jpg"><img class="align-right" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/l8tah2vExAVzUpOvQ4ML*X2*IDCe*e7PExJg43IY5urYGk7zBaXZMfvTRmEuJg3*BUAmF4wOC6UPvtK1wgh5CuSej-95n05s/HIGreenPartnerstacked_RGB.jpg?width=300" width="300"/></a>But investors who pursue green certification swear by it, and a number of green-building programs allow for remodel certifications as well as new construction – NGBS, <a href="http://energystar.gov/">ENERGY STAR</a> and <a href="http://www.usgbc.org/leed/homes">LEED for Homes</a>. These well-known brands are all searchable on Colorado’s multiple listing services (MLSs) and MLSs across the country.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Ms. Pelley says that the biggest shift in thinking has been about insulating and air-sealing her homes. “Before we were just doing what was required by code, just the bare minimum. You guys have taught me how much of a difference that makes.” After she insulated all the walls and attic in the house, the buyer of the property later told her, “I’m just amazed by the basement. It’s so cozy and warm. It doesn’t feel like a basement.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> “I really have to be conscious of the fixtures I buy – plumbing fixtures are Water Sense and have a low-flow rate,” she says. “Before it was like, ‘Does that look good?’ ‘Same with light fixtures – it was style and price. Now they have to be energy-efficient, which buyers love. I’ve gotten lots of feedback on the LEDs [light fixtures she now puts in all her properties].”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ms. Pelley does HERS ratings as a matter of course on all her homes now, and recently sold another NGBS-certified “emerald” property in the Sunnyside neighborhood of Denver (with 57 percent water and 61 percent energy savings).</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It feels awesome giving life to an old home. It’s a whole different level of accomplishment putting out a home that’s efficient and healthy,” she says. “It doesn’t take much more, just being informed.”</p>
<div><br clear="all"/><hr align="left" width="33%" size="1"/><div><p><a href="#_ednref1" title="">[i]</a> Home Energy Rating System (HERS) scores are benchmarked to the 2006 energy codes (IECC). For more information, <a href="http://www.hersindex.com/">CLICK HERE</a>.</p>
<p> </p>
</div>
<div><p><a href="#_ednref2" title="">[ii]</a> We offer a “Green Valuation Service” to help sellers and real estate professionals get green homes and features recognized and appraised. <a href="http://greenspotre.com/Our_GREEN_VALUATION_Service">CLICK HERE</a> for more information.</p>
<p> </p>
</div>
<div><p><a href="#_ednref3" title="">[iii]</a> I’ve covered at length the process of using green-trained appraisers. Please see <a href="http://greenspotre.com/Adding_Up_Couple_Finds_Green_Adds_Value_to_Home">my previous blog</a>, with citations, for more info.</p>
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</div>Adding Up - Couple Finds Green Adds Value to Their Hometag:homeenergypros.lbl.gov,2013-09-03:6069565:BlogPost:1362042013-09-03T14:00:00.000ZMelissa Baldridgehttp://homeenergypros.lbl.gov/profile/MelissaBaldridge61
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/ZXoWXLs1YKMjpEo9-jDOXx08o1HHlRpRrCDMBz-jAQ4H1QUO1Z3gqU9P6oLBSOArC3RZsiiUUoiAZSac4eljRjHmxm0hEXPm/HERSIndex.jpg" target="_self"><img class="align-right" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/ZXoWXLs1YKMjpEo9-jDOXx08o1HHlRpRrCDMBz-jAQ4H1QUO1Z3gqU9P6oLBSOArC3RZsiiUUoiAZSac4eljRjHmxm0hEXPm/HERSIndex.jpg?width=250" style="padding: 1px;" width="250"></img></a> Rick and <a href="http://titlebyjoann.com">Joann Sandoval</a> live in a green Ferrari – a souped-up, high-performance home loaded with energy-sipping systems and green-home features. But when it came time to refinance their house and capture value from those items, the Sandovals were going nowhere…</p>
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/ZXoWXLs1YKMjpEo9-jDOXx08o1HHlRpRrCDMBz-jAQ4H1QUO1Z3gqU9P6oLBSOArC3RZsiiUUoiAZSac4eljRjHmxm0hEXPm/HERSIndex.jpg" target="_self"><img width="250" class="align-right" style="padding: 1px;" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/ZXoWXLs1YKMjpEo9-jDOXx08o1HHlRpRrCDMBz-jAQ4H1QUO1Z3gqU9P6oLBSOArC3RZsiiUUoiAZSac4eljRjHmxm0hEXPm/HERSIndex.jpg?width=250"/></a>Rick and <a href="http://titlebyjoann.com">Joann Sandoval</a> live in a green Ferrari – a souped-up, high-performance home loaded with energy-sipping systems and green-home features. But when it came time to refinance their house and capture value from those items, the Sandovals were going nowhere fast.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rick works for a green-home builder, and he got a lot of the work on the house at cost. The Sandovals took out a $510,000 construction loan last year to pay for the place, at 4-1/2 percent interest. Early this year, Vectra Bank dispatched an appraiser to re-appraise the property, and that re-appraisal came in at a disappointing $535,000, well below what the Sandovals felt the house was worth.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The Sandovals are hardly real estate newbies, with 40 years’ combined work experience in construction and title insurance between them. They came to us for help in May 2013, and we used a common but under-used tool called a HERS rating to capture a significant bump in their appraisal value.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em><strong>ENERGY METER</strong></em></p>
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/ZXoWXLs1YKNdlkiJJbFuYrepZ9o*9ny8F0KU5aLaQaXE-dPTJJ5mBKDuXRWQtAMXq6EehV-15V49a*wePY0yuD6IGPAxiBho/IMG_3727.JPG" target="_self"><img width="250" class="align-left" style="padding: 1px;" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/ZXoWXLs1YKNdlkiJJbFuYrepZ9o*9ny8F0KU5aLaQaXE-dPTJJ5mBKDuXRWQtAMXq6EehV-15V49a*wePY0yuD6IGPAxiBho/IMG_3727.JPG?width=250"/></a>HERS ratings, “Home Energy Rating Scores,” assign a nifty “miles-per-gallon” number to homes where a “100” is built to code, and lower numbers are better – like in golf. More importantly, HERS ratings measure the energy a home saves, and assign a projected energy cost for the property and savings, holding the house up against comparable ones. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>In June, I spent the better part of a day <a href="http://www.yourgreenspot.com">performing a HERS rating</a> in the Sandovals’ 3,600-square-foot home in the hot Berkeley neighborhood of north Denver. The house has everything you’d expect with features the Sandovals love – big, open-concept living areas, beautiful finishes, great location and high-end appliances. Including a monthly solar panel lease payment of $40, their total utility bills are about $90 per month, and this with kids and extended family in and out a LOT.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When I was there, I measured insulation levels, appliance and light efficiencies, windows and overhang depths, and how much air the house leaks. I factored also factored electric output from the solar panels. I spent hours in the office generating the report, and BOOM! – the HERS number came in at an impressive 44. That means that the house uses 56 percent less energy than a code-built home, and even less than most of the houses in their neighborhood. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The rating also showed $2,572 in annual energy savings, resulting in a 20-year savings of $51,440<a title="" href="#_ftn1">[1]</a> That is flat, “today’s value” calculation – no fancy stuff like future value of money or fuel escalators thrown in (rising fuel costs over time). Money today. HERS ratings are hard-coded into federal mortgage underwriting guidelines<a title="" href="#_ftn2">[2]</a>, and that figure can be used to impact the value of a home similar to how energy costs impact commercial property values.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em><strong>ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT GREEN</strong></em></p>
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/ZXoWXLs1YKOQH2m-C4OR6TDRKGkrfrWDkNy8sSVJn7GVZNpQ51K6BWNTcEOyCyUteTF5dCunM1SlsyaLWX-H50XecCvIx5m*/RetrotecBlowerDoor.jpg" target="_self"><img width="190" class="align-right" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/ZXoWXLs1YKOQH2m-C4OR6TDRKGkrfrWDkNy8sSVJn7GVZNpQ51K6BWNTcEOyCyUteTF5dCunM1SlsyaLWX-H50XecCvIx5m*/RetrotecBlowerDoor.jpg?width=190"/></a>My partner and the managing broker of <a href="http://greenspotre.com">our real estate company</a>, <a href="http://greenspotre.com/Agents/Tracye/?search=true">Tracye Herrington</a>, met the second appraiser at the house, and walked him through the documentation. He was not a trained and tested “green” appraiser<a title="" href="#_ftn3">[3]</a>, and his appraisal came in at an underwhelming $580,000. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>When we dissected the second appraisal, the appraiser had listed comparable “green” homes, but there was nothing in those homes’ for-sale listings that even mentioned “green” or “energy-efficient” features. Tracye called the three listing agents for the properties, and nope – there wasn’t a green feature in any of them. The appraiser had identified a fourth property (worth $450,000) as green and added a HERS bump for its features similar to the Sandovals’, and that lower number dragged the Sandovals’ appraisal figure down. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>We felt the documented value of similar properties alone should’ve lifted the Sandovals’ value to $600,000, and the HERS savings another $50,000. So Tracye appealed to Vectra Bank’s appraisal and underwriting committee, and the bankers agreed that the second appraisal didn’t accurately reflect comparable properties. They adjusted the value on the final appraisal $50,000 up per the HERS rating, resulting in a final valuation of $650,000.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“The appraisal was changed because the bank had never seen that input [HERS calculation], and they’d been in the business 25 years. The bank underwriter appraisal review recognized absolutely that that was not correct,” Rick says of the second appraisal. “When the bank committee audited the appraisal, they changed it based on that input.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rick says that to get the results he and Joann got, you have to surround yourself with people skilled in the nuances of both real estate and energy valuation. “Having the right experts in products, financing, real estate advising and energy efficiency adds value when you need that representation. If you don’t have them, you don’t get the value.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>- Melissa Baldridge </p>
<p></p>
<p><font face="Calibri">We have a “Green Valuation Service” to help homeowners and real estate professionals snap together the pieces for higher property valuation with green, energy-efficient features. </font> <a href="http://greenspotre.com/Our_GREEN_VALUATION_Service"><font color="#0000FF" face="Calibri">CONTACT US TODAY</font></a><font face="Calibri"> for details.</font></p>
<p align="center"># # #</p>
<div><hr width="33%" size="1" align="left"/><div><p><a title="" href="#_ftnref1">[1]</a> Twenty (20) years is considered the life of the energy-efficiency improvements and upgrades to the house.</p>
<p></p>
</div>
<div><p><a title="" href="#_ftnref2">[2]</a> In 1995, the Mortgage Bankers’ Association and several state energy offices developed the HERS rating for these purposes – to standardize energy cost predictions. Around 2002, the Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”) and RESNET (Residential Energy Services Network, the overseeing body for HERS ratings) developed a form for an energy savings calculation and a present value calculation. </p>
<p></p>
</div>
<div><p><a title="" href="#_ftnref3">[3]</a> According to Fannie Mae guidelines, appraisers must be competent to value “complex” properties. For green properties, that’s 14 hours of training (minimum) and passing two tests. <a href="https://www.fanniemae.com/content/fact_sheet/appraisal-guidance.pdf">CLICK HERE</a> for more information. </p>
</div>
</div>NEWS RELEASE - Denver Real Estate Company Unveils "Green" Window Stickers for Existing-Home Listings & Pilot Nets Top Dollartag:homeenergypros.lbl.gov,2012-11-01:6069565:BlogPost:972702012-11-01T01:28:31.000ZMelissa Baldridgehttp://homeenergypros.lbl.gov/profile/MelissaBaldridge61
<p class="Text"><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/pbsL26FVgv*AXvuDYP838bsPIrPICFyOvDsosRBwDArEapshMpfuuV0cqWnkPV6NsH1xmKESmdU5*cpnQ3vJvYz-MVn2U2wK/photo2270240ExteriorFront.jpg" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/pbsL26FVgv*AXvuDYP838bsPIrPICFyOvDsosRBwDArEapshMpfuuV0cqWnkPV6NsH1xmKESmdU5*cpnQ3vJvYz-MVn2U2wK/photo2270240ExteriorFront.jpg?width=750" width="750"></img></a></p>
<p class="Text"><span class="font-size-3"><strong>Denver, Nov. 1, 2012:</strong></span> <a href="http://greenspotre.com">GreenSpot Real Estate</a> recently launched its “GreenSpot” eco-makeover program for existing-home listings, including a “window sticker” showing the property’s…</p>
<p class="Text"><a target="_self" href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/pbsL26FVgv*AXvuDYP838bsPIrPICFyOvDsosRBwDArEapshMpfuuV0cqWnkPV6NsH1xmKESmdU5*cpnQ3vJvYz-MVn2U2wK/photo2270240ExteriorFront.jpg"><img class="align-full" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/pbsL26FVgv*AXvuDYP838bsPIrPICFyOvDsosRBwDArEapshMpfuuV0cqWnkPV6NsH1xmKESmdU5*cpnQ3vJvYz-MVn2U2wK/photo2270240ExteriorFront.jpg?width=750" width="750"/></a></p>
<p class="Text"><span class="font-size-3"><strong>Denver, Nov. 1, 2012:</strong></span> <a href="http://greenspotre.com">GreenSpot Real Estate</a> recently launched its “GreenSpot” eco-makeover program for existing-home listings, including a “window sticker” showing the property’s energy-, water-efficient and “green” features. The 1925 home, a 2,025-square-foot bungalow in Denver’s West City Park neighborhood, sold for $390,000, a 4 – 8 percent increase over what competing brokers thought the property would bring.</p>
<p class="Text"></p>
<p class="Text">Working with the homeowner, GreenSpot tuned the home for greater efficiency, including swapping light bulbs, cleaning and tuning the furnace and air-conditioner, blanketing the hot water tank, adding faucet aerators, and switching basement windows with ENERGY STAR replacements. The company then advertised the upgrades and estimated savings in a “window sticker” similar to a new-car window sticker – 20 percent energy savings and 30 percent water for the house.</p>
<p class="Text"></p>
<p class="Text">“As building codes for new construction continue to advance, we want to help our older-home listings compete,” says GreenSpot Real Estate co-owner Tracye Herrington. “The makeover works on any home with similar results.”</p>
<p class="Text"></p>
<p class="Text">A recent <a href="http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/marketwire/0652513.htm">Zip Realty survey</a> shows that 55 percent of homebuyers cited green features as important, and of those 89 percent named energy efficiency as number one. So in March, Metrolist, the state’s largest multiple listing service, added <a href="http://www1.metrolist.com/download/misc/Energy_Green_Features_Addendum.pdf">fields</a> to metro Denver’s MLS allowing the capture, advertising and tracking of <a href="http://marketplace.metrolist.com/Green-Field-Addendum-Completion-Service">energy-efficient and green features in properties. </a> </p>
<p class="Text"></p>
<p class="Text"> “I’d like to buy one of our homes,” says GreenSpot co-owner Melissa Baldridge. “The makeover and window sticker is one way we demonstrate we care about the owner’s experience long after they buy.”</p>
<p class="Text"></p>
<p class="Text"># # #</p>Green Cipherin' - What's Slowing the Mainstreaming of Green Building, and What Homeowners Can Do about Ittag:homeenergypros.lbl.gov,2012-04-10:6069565:BlogPost:815612012-04-10T02:00:00.000ZMelissa Baldridgehttp://homeenergypros.lbl.gov/profile/MelissaBaldridge61
<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/5-hdmJErqPIt*R30dhHetMVnG9XqxWGj-QDlpjAyebgZdfZas9UuH-KXz7dkG7HjbTxylAO-CwwYMD8RxidQ7Yf0d6tDJhLr/SAdomatisbusinessshot.png" target="_self"><img class="align-right" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/5-hdmJErqPIt*R30dhHetMVnG9XqxWGj-QDlpjAyebgZdfZas9UuH-KXz7dkG7HjbTxylAO-CwwYMD8RxidQ7Yf0d6tDJhLr/SAdomatisbusinessshot.png?width=189" width="189"></img></a> MLSs (Multiple Listing Services) across the country are unveiling “green-field addenda” (GFAs) and<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><strong><em>searchable fields<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></em></strong>to highlight green features. …</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a target="_self" href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/5-hdmJErqPIt*R30dhHetMVnG9XqxWGj-QDlpjAyebgZdfZas9UuH-KXz7dkG7HjbTxylAO-CwwYMD8RxidQ7Yf0d6tDJhLr/SAdomatisbusinessshot.png"><img class="align-right" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/5-hdmJErqPIt*R30dhHetMVnG9XqxWGj-QDlpjAyebgZdfZas9UuH-KXz7dkG7HjbTxylAO-CwwYMD8RxidQ7Yf0d6tDJhLr/SAdomatisbusinessshot.png?width=189" width="189"/></a>MLSs (Multiple Listing Services) across the country are unveiling “green-field addenda” (GFAs) and<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><strong><em>searchable fields<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></em></strong>to highlight green features. Twenty-five percent of new-home sales are ENERGY STAR-certified, and utility programs across the country provide rebates to overhaul the rest of the country's housing stock. Early data from places like the Pacific Northwest and North Carolina are showing that yes, in fact, there is a “green premium” – a price bump for homes with green features.</span></p>
<p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Green-building advocates feel like a green renaissance within home construction and renovation—an Emerald City – is on the horizon. But appraisers have been the big buzz kill at the party. As an industry, they’ve refused to assign higher valuation to energy-efficient features that save homeowners money on utility bills or create healthful environments.</span></p>
<p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What’s been missing, appraisers say, are data points to support higher valuations of those features, and lending underwriters able to reconcile higher appraisal values with federal lending guidelines.</span></p>
<p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br/></span></p>
<p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></p>
<p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><em><strong>GETTING ON THE GREEN-BUILDING BANDWAGON</strong></em></span></p>
<p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><em><strong><br/></strong></em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Appraisal Institute is hot on the trail, and last fall, it launched its<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.appraisalinstitute.org/education/downloads/AI_82003_ReslGreenEnergyEffAddendum.pdf">"Residential Green and Energy Efficient Addendum,"</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>a form for appraisers to identify any green and energy-efficient features of a house. Sandy Adomatis, an appraiser and Vice Chair of the National Education Committee for the institute, says that adoption among AI members has been slow. Of 80,000 licensed appraisers in the United States, only 23,000 are Appraisal Institute members, and of those, only 2.9 percent (667) have sought green certification. Yet the appraisers who are trained to get green features, love the addendum.</span></p>
<p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Adomatis identifies two critical pieces that need to fall into place for green appraisal data to matter – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><strong><em>must</em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></strong>get on board by distinguishing green properties as specialized, and homeowners<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><strong><em>must</em></strong><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>assert their rights when they want green features considered.</span></p>
<p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></p>
<p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a target="_self" href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/F75q*y02ez60DODJP6r4aiJc6QdWdBBs5oXUKx4TA4P7kBTRhHhRZxgBvk6XYmeZp0S1Mtb4brZp5r7Xe0uUjmDLJoNeSLcF/elizabethmillion.jpg"><img class="align-left" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/F75q*y02ez60DODJP6r4aiJc6QdWdBBs5oXUKx4TA4P7kBTRhHhRZxgBvk6XYmeZp0S1Mtb4brZp5r7Xe0uUjmDLJoNeSLcF/elizabethmillion.jpg" width="140"/></a>“What hasn’t changed is Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac coming into 2012 and recognizing that these energy-efficiency features have value,” says Boulder banker and appraiser Elizabeth Million. “There’s no specific area for underwriters to go to a site and find out what ‘PV’ is – what’s solar. So the underwriter can choose not to accept the appraised value. That, in my opinion, is why we need these data points.”</span></p>
<p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br/></span></p>
<p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></p>
<p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><em><strong>HOMEOWNERS’ BILL OF RIGHTS</strong></em></span></p>
<p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><em><strong><br/></strong></em></span></p>
<p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a target="_self" href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/eSD-FUMKM-vvs3-JEKErZrYHbDu6D4NFVRYJHIhcKqBSNGqtzP6q56ydahzTw*LVUio4xe0hMSa4ZR7Yc4G2xCydXtoEsYal/LStukel_sm.jpg"><img class="align-left" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/eSD-FUMKM-vvs3-JEKErZrYHbDu6D4NFVRYJHIhcKqBSNGqtzP6q56ydahzTw*LVUio4xe0hMSa4ZR7Yc4G2xCydXtoEsYal/LStukel_sm.jpg" width="150"/></a>Laura Stukel, a National Association of REALTORS “Green” REALTOR in Chicago with L.W. Reedy Real Estate, says that when homeowners are working with their lenders, that’s the time to request a green appraiser. “If you had a horse property, you’d want an appraiser who knew how to value a horse property. You need someone who can value green properties,” she says.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Adomatis says that the AI has green appraisal classes, tests and subsequent certifications – two for residential appraisers and four for commercial appraisers. Homeowners can request a “green-certified” appraiser from their lender. Sometimes, that request isn’t honored, though, because lenders don’t have the knowledge to fulfill it, or the people, she says.</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br/></span></p>
<p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Unfortunately they’re using either their own ordering department within the bank or they use an appraisal management company. Neither category is looking at green construction as anything other than conventional," she says.</span></p>
<p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Adomatis notes that green appraisals are considered “complex” and that “general” or “trainee” appraisers shouldn’t be doing them. And yet banks and appraisal companies sometimes dispatch those less-skilled anyway.</span></p>
<p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br/></span></p>
<p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></p>
<p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><em><strong>LINE IN THE SAND</strong></em></span></p>
<p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><em><strong><br/></strong></em></span></p>
<p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Adomatis says it’s completely legit for property owners to ask, “Are you a trainee, or are you certified? Have you had any classes in green construction?” And when the appraisal’s done, check it then – don’t wait until closing.</span></p>
<p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“The homeowner should ask for a copy of the appraisal as soon as they can get it,” says Adomatis. “Did they describe the property appropriately? If it’s green, do they describe the green features? If they didn’t describe it right, they probably didn’t appraise it correctly. Then go back to the lender.”</span></p>
<p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">REALTORS and appraisers are working shoulder to shoulder to get green features valued, but there’s not a big push from lenders, says Adomatis. “I’d like to see the lenders do what we’ve encouraged the builders to do – network with all of us, networking and brainstorming together. The AI always invites lenders,” she says.</span></p>
<p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Ultimately, Stukel says the responsibility for getting green features valued falls squarely on the home or building owner. “You still have to manage the process,” she says. Working with green REALTORS and appraisers can flatten the learning curve.</span></p>
<p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br/></span></p>
<p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></p>
<p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">-Melissa Baldridge, eGreenContractors</span></p>
<p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br/></span></p>
<p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></p>
<p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><strong><em>For more information …</em></strong></span></p>
<ul style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Green REALTORS come in two varieties and can help owners through buying, selling and appraising properties with energy-efficiency features –<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.ecobroker.com/">EcoBroker</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>and<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.greenresourcecouncil.org/">National Association of REALTORS "Green."</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Note upcoming class – The Appraisal Institute’s<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.appraisalinstitute.org/education/course_descrb/Default.aspx?prgrm_nbr=828&amp;key_type=C.">Case Studies in Appraising Green Commercial Buildings,"</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>June 26-7, 2012, Chicago.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Appraisal Institute solar appraisal class coming in January 2013.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Homeowners can present MLS “green-field addenda” to appraisers for inspection and review. For help in the Denver/Boulder metro area with a GFA (both Metrolist and IRES), contact us today. We have certified energy auditors who can fill the form out accurately. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="mailto:Info@eGreenContractors.com">Info@eGreenContractors.com</a>, 1.877.376.8953.</span></li>
</ul>
<p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" align="center"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"># # #</span></p>Big Blue Goes Green - How 203Ks May Be the Future of Green Mortgagestag:homeenergypros.lbl.gov,2012-03-28:6069565:BlogPost:809432012-03-28T03:00:00.000ZMelissa Baldridgehttp://homeenergypros.lbl.gov/profile/MelissaBaldridge61
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/PlzVWaEX7kBWjSLzsA*GZ9ReCk3tG9STVbGTbfkimNpq2FnPI9NO35w2Lgh*ePyf*E4vGOlOssoGtHL4Yk8mcMj1*ygfq8Ot/eGCBlogColeman_Sarah016.JPG" target="_self"><img class="align-left" height="323" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/PlzVWaEX7kBWjSLzsA*GZ9ReCk3tG9STVbGTbfkimNpq2FnPI9NO35w2Lgh*ePyf*E4vGOlOssoGtHL4Yk8mcMj1*ygfq8Ot/eGCBlogColeman_Sarah016.JPG?width=750" width="433"></img></a> When Sarah Coleman and Carl Sack first saw “Big Blue,” they knew they were home. The massive house, so named because all the rooms were painted shades of the color, was built in the 1920s on two and a half lots in the Corey-Merrill neighborhood of inner-city Denver. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>But their…</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/PlzVWaEX7kBWjSLzsA*GZ9ReCk3tG9STVbGTbfkimNpq2FnPI9NO35w2Lgh*ePyf*E4vGOlOssoGtHL4Yk8mcMj1*ygfq8Ot/eGCBlogColeman_Sarah016.JPG"><img class="align-left" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/PlzVWaEX7kBWjSLzsA*GZ9ReCk3tG9STVbGTbfkimNpq2FnPI9NO35w2Lgh*ePyf*E4vGOlOssoGtHL4Yk8mcMj1*ygfq8Ot/eGCBlogColeman_Sarah016.JPG?width=750" height="323" width="433"/></a>When Sarah Coleman and Carl Sack first saw “Big Blue,” they knew they were home. The massive house, so named because all the rooms were painted shades of the color, was built in the 1920s on two and a half lots in the Corey-Merrill neighborhood of inner-city Denver. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>But their Realtor, PJ Magin, remembers the 4,200-square-foot place was a gut job – the roof was shot, the hardwood floors wrecked, a detached garage needed scraping, and an old “octopus” boiler appeared to have been recently coal-fired by the foreclosed-upon owners because the house had no power. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/*jaSDrDhBaRCbO1oMeliUN5faIIxFGCkFXn*KevgR*-4dxri78BeQP0*n8d2LoCdgadGInsQ2kVJ2A8pIGWNN*NdiB*P9r9L/eGCBlogColeman_Sarah007.JPG"><img class="align-right" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/*jaSDrDhBaRCbO1oMeliUN5faIIxFGCkFXn*KevgR*-4dxri78BeQP0*n8d2LoCdgadGInsQ2kVJ2A8pIGWNN*NdiB*P9r9L/eGCBlogColeman_Sarah007.JPG?width=750" height="331" width="442"/></a>The bank initially listed the place at $789,000, and the couple put in an offer of $245,000 in winter 2011. Their first lender backed out one day before closing, and the bank gave the couple a small window to resuscitate the deal when Magin recommended working with mortgage lender Brett Popish. Because Coleman and Sack had done the heavy lifting for the previous lender, including getting bids, Popish was able to fund and close in two weeks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The 203K loan product Popish used funded $163,000 of conventional improvements like a new roof, historically right-on windows to replace the 60 single-pane original ones, and rewiring the house. More importantly, the loan also funded “green” upgrades like a high-efficiency furnace and sealed ductwork, tankless, “on-demand” hot water heating and ENERGY STAR appliances. And Popish, who’s a 203K veteran at Universal Lending Corporation, says homeowners are more and more choosing the loan for green upgrades to existing homes in both purchases and refis.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The beauty of the 203K is that it’s agnostic about what’s green and what’s conventional. Viewed through the 203K lens, granite countertops are weighted the same as high-efficiency furnaces as new carpet as low-VOC paint as structural repairs as solar panels (owned, not leased). The mortgage underwriter can fund <b><i>up to 110 percent on the “as-completed value” of the purchase price</i></b> ($245,000 in the case of Coleman and Sacks) plus the improvements ($163,000) up to the conforming loan limit ($408,000 in the City and County of Denver in June 2011).</p>
<p> </p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/CVpfhs*T51kdE1yxvu3F78Z3yNAhgeaLlh*bnYzD*9rjfBy6473fFt6O0kTKMbrcOKE44JveCotZj8ZmzSjWQDy4ubeYy4hc/eGCBlogColeman_Sarah014.JPG"><img class="align-left" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/CVpfhs*T51kdE1yxvu3F78Z3yNAhgeaLlh*bnYzD*9rjfBy6473fFt6O0kTKMbrcOKE44JveCotZj8ZmzSjWQDy4ubeYy4hc/eGCBlogColeman_Sarah014.JPG?width=750" height="283" width="380"/></a>The 203K is essentially a construction loan and a purchase loan rolled into one, and the FHA, its guarantor, estimates they’re two percent of the entire FHA portfolio. The loan comes in two flavors – a <b><i>streamlined</i></b> loan up to $35,000 in non-structural repairs, and a <b><i>full</i></b> up to a county’s conforming loan limit. Coleman and Sack opted for the latter, given the massive overhaul that the house required.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The loan also solves a couple of problems that existing “energy-efficiency mortgages” (EEMs) have. EEMs require a HERS rating, a “miles-per-gallon” metric assigned to a home, and those start at $500 and go up depending on square footage. The math behind a HERS rating generates the <b><i>net present value of future energy savings based on a prescribed scope of work</i></b>. Vary outside of that complex calculus, and you’re on your own.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Secondly, the 203K is a less-complicated product to use as long as everyone’s on board from the gitgo, says Mike Wilcox, Renovation Sales Manager at Academy Mortagage, which specializes in the loan. He only recommends using 203K-seasoned contractors, and he has a “come-to-Jesus” meeting before closing to insure buy-in. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/2kl*WBiekbkEQmlLMxFxD9S0fHnnMqFJkT5Npk-tUKvyUKteAU6*5zUorztjS4mUHgtMYzq3-dEcyic2HBs2A1X2ujakMA-W/Wilcox.jpg"><img class="align-right" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/2kl*WBiekbkEQmlLMxFxD9S0fHnnMqFJkT5Npk-tUKvyUKteAU6*5zUorztjS4mUHgtMYzq3-dEcyic2HBs2A1X2ujakMA-W/Wilcox.jpg" width="170"/></a>“This is not a program to guess at,” he says, noting that its legendary complications usually come when contractors aren’t schooled in the draw process. “The most important thing for everybody to know is who to call – from the contractor to the lender to the FHA consultant.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The loan product gets a bad rap among real estate professionals because it has the reputation of financing houses that are in shambles. Not so, says Popish. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“With a 203K, you can do something as small as an appliance package, just putting new appliances in a home,” he says. (Energy-efficient, please!) “Or buying a home, scraping it and building a new home on the foundation.” The numbers simply have to pencil out – green or not.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I don’t know why every loan isn’t a 203K,” Wilcox says. Even simple jobs like repainting and recarpeting can be rolled into the price, adds Popish. The work simply has to be bid beforehand and weighed in the appraisal value.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/Zd-pXVm31hZt1-9e1CBTc1CzOZ8cxuWRLUUxz1BEPw2IwbIpH8dcpwXuOU0IY9Uv2pXBWBo-1I3MFe4s1852JYBaxulaS1il/Popish.jpg"><img class="align-left" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/Zd-pXVm31hZt1-9e1CBTc1CzOZ8cxuWRLUUxz1BEPw2IwbIpH8dcpwXuOU0IY9Uv2pXBWBo-1I3MFe4s1852JYBaxulaS1il/Popish.jpg" height="272" width="196"/></a>Popish says 203Ks are also popular with experienced lenders because the properties go into default significantly less than homes financed with other loans. “Anyone fixing up their home to make it a dream home, they’re far less likely to default,” he says. (Which begs the question – Are “green” borrowers better credit risks? Let’s start watching for data to support <i>that.</i>)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Coleman says she and Sack don’t consider themselves hardcore enviros. She’s an accountant, and he’s a financial analyst so both live decidedly in the realm of the left-brained. “The greenest thing I did was buy this house and not scrape it,” she says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Still, they chose high-efficiency systems, reused building materials when possible and have put a herculean amount of sweat equity into Big Blue, including a lot of repainting. “We aren’t consciously buying something green, but we make important decisions whenever we can.” The 203K helped them get there.</p>
<p></p>
<p>-Melissa Baldridge</p>
<p></p>
<p><em>For more information ...</em></p>
<p>The Web site <a href="http://www.203Kcontractors.com">www.203Kcontractors.com</a> provides a spot to source good contractors familiar with the 203K process. </p>Jumping the Hurdles to a Green MLStag:homeenergypros.lbl.gov,2011-11-10:6069565:BlogPost:666062011-11-10T16:49:16.000ZMelissa Baldridgehttp://homeenergypros.lbl.gov/profile/MelissaBaldridge61
<p>Sean Smith was the man in the middle. – a key figure with a foot in both worlds of business and “green.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>A high-end general contractor, he built two LEED-certified homes in the Washington Park neighborhood of Denver in 2009. At an educational session he hosted there, the U.S. Green Building Council approached him to serve on a committee. “If you’re doing big-picture things, I’m all over it,” he told them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>At a subsequent meeting at the Governor’s Energy…</p>
<p>Sean Smith was the man in the middle. – a key figure with a foot in both worlds of business and “green.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>A high-end general contractor, he built two LEED-certified homes in the Washington Park neighborhood of Denver in 2009. At an educational session he hosted there, the U.S. Green Building Council approached him to serve on a committee. “If you’re doing big-picture things, I’m all over it,” he told them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>At a subsequent meeting at the Governor’s Energy Office (GEO), Smith realized he was one of the few businesspeople in a room full of well-intended greenies.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/FQ52NaZpcBYwOXewdKww44z6v3LFdKvAhPAeVMd7KnVVAyUL5xyFXntCDsr3IFVSm8AJ4JnJnL2LSQvAtyLGbgq3N4Q6Xena/SeanSmith.jpg"><img class="align-left" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/FQ52NaZpcBYwOXewdKww44z6v3LFdKvAhPAeVMd7KnVVAyUL5xyFXntCDsr3IFVSm8AJ4JnJnL2LSQvAtyLGbgq3N4Q6Xena/SeanSmith.jpg" width="266"/></a>“There wasn’t one REALTOR. I was the only builder. There weren’t any bankers or appraisers. They were talking about moving the market at a macro scale,” he said. “The market they were talking about was not there in any way, shape or form.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The problem Smith and his colleagues want to solve is validating the theory that green homes sell faster and for more money than conventional homes. It’s a real “chicken-or-egg” conundrum as appraisers, mortgage lenders and underwriters, REALTORS, builders and homeowners look to each other for numbers to prove the claim. If a market-based case can be made, it would grease the skids for moving the green-building industry into the mainstream.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>An important yet imperfect study emerged in 2009<a href="#_ftn1">[1]</a> from the Pacific Northwest, specifically Portland and Seattle. The MLS (Multiple Listing Service) had collected sale data from certified green homes that proved the theory there. What implementers at the GEO realized is that grant money could be directed to Colorado’s 18 MLS’s to add “green field addenda” (GFAs) to start data collection here.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>IRES, the MLS for Boulder and northern Colorado, was one of the first aboard. Lauren Hansen, IRES’ CEO, said she rolled her eyes when the GEO first knocked on her door about placing GFAs on IRES, but she quickly saw the value of the undertaking. Boulder’s building codes now require all new construction and remodels to be 30 percent more energy-efficient than conventional codes. And that’s just the starting point.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s not just about listing and selling homes, but instead how can we gather the right kind of applicable data, meaningful data, so appraisers can start putting these houses side by side [next to code-built twins].” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The GEO approached Hansen in April 2010, and IRES moved with lightning speed, launching its GFA in August. She says she had IT support that a lot of smaller MLSs don’t have in-house. (The GEO MLS grants intended to offset that expense, even if the work has to be sent out-of-house.)</p>
<p> </p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/BE*ETMC17xXtaJ2us59P0O10e7wojqNvR0yc8uoA3cTQyhAjw9h1hbLci8irsr*o7IEjYW0hVMMZYvsSBKwRgymV6B6Jc2x8/Emerysmaller.jpg"><img class="align-right" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/BE*ETMC17xXtaJ2us59P0O10e7wojqNvR0yc8uoA3cTQyhAjw9h1hbLci8irsr*o7IEjYW0hVMMZYvsSBKwRgymV6B6Jc2x8/Emerysmaller.jpg" width="235"/></a>Another reason Hansen moved so fast is because the GEO offered her a data template to facilitate apples-to-apples comparisons. “This is not the area for you to be creative,” she says the GEO told her. “If you want to change up data collection, go for it. But be sure to have at least the same info that we do.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The 800-pound gorilla, Metrolist serving metro Denver and almost half the REALTORS in the state, has been slower on the uptake, and its founding president resigned in October after 27 years there. Melissa Olson, Senior Manager for Marketing &amp; Sales, says it hasn’t been a priority for Metrolist because REALTORS haven’t asked for it. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“In our market, there just hasn’t been a real call in the brokerage community for the green fields,” she says. She advises brokers who are interested to tack green data on as “additional information.” Olson does say, however, that a bona fide GFA will be available on the MLS toward the end of this year.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Smith notes another issue with widespread acceptance – no secondary market for energy-efficient mortgages. “Fannie and Freddie and HUD can come up with energy-efficiency mortgages all day long, all they want. Underwriters and lenders will add their own layer of criteria,” he says. “If we get the mortgage industry to really buy into an energy-efficient home with a HERS score of X (a “miles per gallon” comparison) with data from an MLS, appraisers can understand it, and they can get comps from an MLS because it’s all in there.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>He says one sticking point is that appraisers have lacked mechanisms to value green improvements. But this year, the Appraisal Institute passed its own <a href="http://www.appraisalinstitute.org/education/downloads/AI_82003_ReslGreenEnergyEffAddendum.pdf">GFA</a> with, Hansen notes, fields similar to IRES’s and other MLS’s. Hansen says it’s a game changer because where appraisers go, lenders and underwriters can follow. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>One more obstacle to a green MLS – and perhaps the biggest – is actually getting REALTORS to use it, and that’s a problem of education. Even Hansen in green-tinged Boulder says she doesn’t have the acceptance of the GFAs that she’d like to see.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She says acronyms like VOC paints, SIPs and ICFs (both insulative building foam) can be intimidating. “It’s like looking for a job. If I don’t know what the acronyms are, I probably shouldn’t apply.” Hansen keeps up the drumbeat in <b><i>all</i></b> her real estate CLU classes, not just green classes. And Olson says she’s had the same experience in Denver.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As the various components surrounding green-building valuation gel, Hansen says it’s only a matter of time before REALTORS start using them. “Once the brokers understand this could make my seller’s property more valuable and more attractive, it’ll be easy for them to jump on board.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>-Melissa Baldridge, GreenSpot</p>
<p> </p>
<div><br clear="all"/><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%"/><div><p><a href="#_ftnref1">[1]</a> Ann Griffin, “Certified Home Performance: Assessing the Market Impacts of Third Party Certification on Residential Properties,” Earth Advantage Institute, May 29, 2009.</p>
</div>
</div>Creating Shared Value - The Future of Businesstag:homeenergypros.lbl.gov,2011-10-19:6069565:BlogPost:633392011-10-19T03:30:00.000ZMelissa Baldridgehttp://homeenergypros.lbl.gov/profile/MelissaBaldridge61
<p><i>“Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach him to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.”</i></p>
<p><i>-Chinese proverb</i></p>
<p> </p>
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/AoqfHke82Wi6MdhpBzso5RXMrashE0NhXufJKlHNp*el5AlDm0kE5UM9CCqYeBqwJYcmLLlTDo0A7ESSqh9LoLWHZH8gLauJ/BlogNadef12.jpg" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/AoqfHke82Wi6MdhpBzso5RXMrashE0NhXufJKlHNp*el5AlDm0kE5UM9CCqYeBqwJYcmLLlTDo0A7ESSqh9LoLWHZH8gLauJ/BlogNadef12.jpg?width=750" width="750"></img></a> Let’s say you own a waterfront business that invests the time and resources to teach that man or woman to fish. You routinely offer “Fishing 101” classes. Your…</p>
<p><i>“Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach him to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.”</i></p>
<p><i>-Chinese proverb</i></p>
<p> </p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/AoqfHke82Wi6MdhpBzso5RXMrashE0NhXufJKlHNp*el5AlDm0kE5UM9CCqYeBqwJYcmLLlTDo0A7ESSqh9LoLWHZH8gLauJ/BlogNadef12.jpg"><img class="align-left" width="750" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/AoqfHke82Wi6MdhpBzso5RXMrashE0NhXufJKlHNp*el5AlDm0kE5UM9CCqYeBqwJYcmLLlTDo0A7ESSqh9LoLWHZH8gLauJ/BlogNadef12.jpg?width=750"/></a>Let’s say you own a waterfront business that invests the time and resources to teach that man or woman to fish. You routinely offer “Fishing 101” classes. Your customer base could expand exponentially, and those newly schooled anglers could become your best customers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Your investment – in this case, education – is the heart of what’s called “creating shared value” (CSV). And strategists/visionaries Michael Porter and Mark Kramer say it’s the next evolution of business. CSV harnesses what business does so well – create profit – <b><i>as</i></b> <b><i>well as</i></b> advance the social and economic conditions in the communities in which it operates. Everyone wins.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A number of well-known global brands are embracing CSV’s “profits-plus,” and several Colorado companies are breathing new life into their businesses based on the CSV model.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>To comprehend CSV, it may be easier to understand what it’s not – the sacred cow, “corporate social responsibility” (CSR). Kramer and Porter say that corporations developed CSR programs as philanthropic ways to salvage their reputations as bad stewards of the environment, jobs exporters and sweatshop operators. CSR programs, while often laudable, are peripheral expenses (cost centers), fringe programs that add nothing to the bottom line.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><b>COFFEE TALK</b></p>
<p> </p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/40izjhY2Hn*Oo-FFV5mYijyVD-IDLdcaR0z7yD9aIPhc5hQHq1vgFXPKKjJFBQYxNRCbv*7x1Xr4oquc9ibiK7LjCI5f4B3Z/BlogMichael_Porter.jpg"><img class="align-full" width="200" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/40izjhY2Hn*Oo-FFV5mYijyVD-IDLdcaR0z7yD9aIPhc5hQHq1vgFXPKKjJFBQYxNRCbv*7x1Xr4oquc9ibiK7LjCI5f4B3Z/BlogMichael_Porter.jpg"/></a>One example is fair trade pricing, where well-intentioned companies purchase commodities like coffee and cacao at prices above what the subsistence farmers who grow them would otherwise be able to get. Fair trade is essentially a price support and redistribution rather an expansion of value for those suppliers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Porter and Kramer point out Nestlé’s Nespresso division with its single-serve espresso machines as fair trade’s next iteration. Nestlé opened the division in 2000, redesigned its coffee procurement processes and has reaped 30 percent annual growth since. Nespresso helped its farmers with new growing techniques, bank loans, better fertilizers and pesticides, all resulting in increased yields. While fair trade can raise farmer incomes as much as 20 percent, Kramer and Porter estimate CSV in coffee growing can raise them as much as 300 percent.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Energy efficiency is a natural fit for CSV because it creates value along the supply chain by cutting energy and waste costs, and General Electric turned energy efficiency into a $21 billion a year business with its Ecomagination division. Whether creating über-efficient jet engines, long-lived batteries and electric car charging stations, the division’s focus on energy efficiency creates value for the company <b><i>and</i></b> its customers by reducing energy use and creating less waste. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Closer to home, two Colorado-based companies, both approximately 100-years-old, are reinventing themselves from a CSR mentality to a CSV model – Western Union and Newmont Mining Corporation. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><b>WESTERN UNION</b></p>
<p> </p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/0T4GXplgk7TlP66RjKkTdvGTPijGM1E37YMZiTeArbxDv6TW*Bz0-BMEXLbVGzBw2ZUtmw2tgY3yjhsfFL2TyrlmiB0tNovI/BlogHikmet2.jpg"><img class="align-right" width="404" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/0T4GXplgk7TlP66RjKkTdvGTPijGM1E37YMZiTeArbxDv6TW*Bz0-BMEXLbVGzBw2ZUtmw2tgY3yjhsfFL2TyrlmiB0tNovI/BlogHikmet2.jpg"/></a>Western Union is a $5.2 billion a year backbone for global money transfers with 470,000 agent locations, marketing in over 100 different languages and operations in 200 countries and territories. “We can see where people send money,” says Talya Bosch, Director of Corporate Responsibility. “People literally line up at Western Union offices around the world if it’s payday in, say, Germany. If the money doesn’t get there safely and reliably, they literally won’t eat.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Similar to microloan programs on the Asian subcontinent that foster local small business, Western Union’s core business meets peoples’ basic needs all over the planet. “What we do puts food on the table, helps educate children and has a tremendous impact,” says Bosch.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The company started the Western Union Foundation in 2001, which operates under its Corporate Responsibility arm, and last year the foundation donated over $20 million, with 46 percent of Western Union employees contributing to that. “We’ve engaged our employees and agents, creating a culture of giving. That’s good, but there’s more that we can do,” Bosch says, noting that CEO Hikmet Ersek pegs CSV as the company’s new magnetic north.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Bosch describes the foundation giving as “layered,” addressing issues of economic opportunity like financial literacy and job creation. And Western Union goes where few companies have gone – to underserved, poorer parts of the planet, which is precisely what Porter and Kramer say is CSV’s sweet spot. (Remember the newly schooled anglers.) Bosch also says the company intends to develop programs to help the underserved stateside – small business. (We’ll be in touch, Talya.) </p>
<p> </p>
<p>As the foundation evolves, Bosch says Western Union’s grants benefit the people the company serves. “We’re not just giving grants but education,” Bosch says. And that education investment can generate new business.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><b>NEWMONT MINING CORPORATION</b></p>
<p> </p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/IAGpAl-7YA5IBGq9D1hYUnWRlXHPF9ulSICutP1IdRv-8YnY2DGyJ56QrQfPQ52i1d1KTCYBVdEe0fev-h5MpIRkfiFA6DAp/BlogApprenticeship_AhafoProgram2010.jpg"><img class="align-left" width="750" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/IAGpAl-7YA5IBGq9D1hYUnWRlXHPF9ulSICutP1IdRv-8YnY2DGyJ56QrQfPQ52i1d1KTCYBVdEe0fev-h5MpIRkfiFA6DAp/BlogApprenticeship_AhafoProgram2010.jpg?width=750"/></a>Based in Englewood, Colo., Newmont Mining Corporation has 31,000 employees worldwide, and is primarily involved in gold mining. Its division in Ghana, Newmont Ghana Gold Limited, is determined to avoid mining gold without properly re-seeding and re-investing in communities there.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“We clearly see we have to be a partner in the host community and in the environment in which we’re working,” says Randy Barnes, the Regional Vice President of Environment and Social Responsibility for NGGL. “We’re trying to really flesh out what that means to them (Ghanaians).” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Newmont Ghana, too, has started with a foundation model that engages Ghanaians directly affected by mining to create local investment and ownership with an endowment that will live beyond the mine’s operations.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>To that end, Newmont established the Newmont Ahafo Development Foundation, run by a board with community and corporate representatives. Newmont Ghana tied community investment directly to mine proceeds -- $1 for every ounce of gold sold and 1 percent of NGGL profits made. When the company does well, that’s directly channeled to improving health, education and infrastructure projects like new police facilities, upgrading water and sanitation and improving local schools and hospitals.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>One key point for Ghanaians in the mine region was that one-third of jobs created go to local folk, even ahead of Ghanaian nationals. This was a stretch because 85 percent of area residents are subsistence farmers, never trained for the technical and higher-skilled jobs required in Newmont’s operations. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>So Newmont started its Apprenticeship Program in 2005 and has enrolled 145 students to date, including four women. The apprenticeships teach mechanical, process operation and electrical skills, and a number of grads are now working for Newmont. “One of the advantages of training locals is that you’re creating value for them to stay in the community,” says Barnes. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The mantra for CSR is “Do well by doing good.” For CSV, it could be “Do well by engaging others in ways that create value for them.” Companies that fail to do so will suffer withering market share as CSV companies create new markets by investing in the people they serve.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>-Melissa Baldridge, GreenSpot</p>
<p><i>The GreenSpot blog is nationally syndicated on <a href="http://www.coloradoenergynews.com/">www.ColoradoEnergyNews.com</a> and <a href="http://www.earthtechling.com/">www.EarthTechling.com</a>. </i></p>
<p> </p>Housing Bale-Out - Boulder Architect Streamlines Green Buildingtag:homeenergypros.lbl.gov,2011-09-14:6069565:BlogPost:595292011-09-14T17:51:01.000ZMelissa Baldridgehttp://homeenergypros.lbl.gov/profile/MelissaBaldridge61
<p> </p>
<p>Straw-bale houses have come a long way since Midwestern homesteaders used to stack sod on the Great Plains and call it home. More recently, 20<sup>th</sup> century straw-bale builders were either crunchy, granola types hand-crafting their own über-green homes, or affluent greenies seeking to create off-grid trophy houses, budgets be damned. In all cases, though, straw-bale has been the preserve of the one-off – designed and built one at a time. Until now.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>One…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Straw-bale houses have come a long way since Midwestern homesteaders used to stack sod on the Great Plains and call it home. More recently, 20<sup>th</sup> century straw-bale builders were either crunchy, granola types hand-crafting their own über-green homes, or affluent greenies seeking to create off-grid trophy houses, budgets be damned. In all cases, though, straw-bale has been the preserve of the one-off – designed and built one at a time. Until now.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>One Boulder architect is adapting a European production model that has allowed him to increase his straw-bale business exponentially and factory-produce homes less expensively than other high-efficiency, architect-designed housing. Brian Fuentes stacks framing and bales on conventional slab foundations, runs wiring and plumbing throughout and covers the bales with imported hydraulic French plaster that hardens like concrete. The result – a pre-fab panelized system – is artisanal, high-end yet it still has the warmth of the human hand.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The key to Fuentes’ economies of scale is in the framing process, and where that happens – in a production facility versus on site.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>THE PROCESS</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Fuentes, a 34-year-old architect in Boulder, models the houses in his studio, builds the load-bearing framing there, stuffs the framing cavities with straw bales and applies two coats of plaster. When dry, Fuentes transports the panels to the job site, and PRESTO! -- Installers erect the completed walls sealed full of straw. Fuentes compares them to LEGOS, and he says he aims to “take the drama out of straw-bale building” with his process.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Straw-bale houses conjure images of the “three little pigs” – straw houses collapsing under the big, bad wolf’s heavy breathing. Yet the fable belies reality.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The houses are twice as insulated as code-built homes (R-40 wall systems versus R-21), and they withstand fire better than stick-frame construction. In fact, a Fuentes home withstood one of Boulder’s notorious canyon fires this summer. Fuentes attributes the house’s surviving because of its metal roof and lime plastering.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The holy grail for high-efficiency building is carbon neutrality, and that’s where straw-bale outpaces almost everything. Most of the building materials he sources are local – straw from Alamosa, Colo., clay from Golden and lumber reclaimed from Boulder. And “net-zero” housing (where energy use in equals energy generated and saved) is easily within reach with straw-bale building. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>THE GREEN, GREEN GRASS OF BOULDER</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Fuentes is a visionary who speaks rapid-fire about his vision for the building industry, peppered with high-efficiency building stats. He grows misty when he talks about the “orders of magnitude” that straw-bale homes can save in energy – 10 times less needed for heating and cooling compared to conventional homes, and 75 percent less total energy, with lighting and appliances.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Boulder is the perfect place for Fuentes, who studied architecture at the University of Oregon, another hotbed for green building. Building straw-bale there was fun, he says. “You had big, thick walls inside, and it feels cozy. It works well in earthquake zones because they’re kind of spongey. The bales bounce around.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Boulder building codes require all newly built homes to be 25 percent more energy-efficient than conventional homes so straw-bale is one option for homeowners. Before he began pre-fabbing straw panels, he said he worked on four homes a year. Because of his factory system, he’s already been involved with 13 projects this year, including his own home, which he’s building from the ground up. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>NON-COMPETE</p>
<p> </p>
<p>While Fuentes may be simplifying what’s essentially an artisanal process, he’s hardly in danger of upending the home-building industry. Though young in his career, Fuentes has been involved with only 25 of the homes. Last year, national single-family housing starts numbered 470,900, and that’s 80 percent off the building peak of 1.7 million in 2005, says the National Association of Home Builders. Even in Boulder, Fuentes plays for a small team, and he estimates he’s one of only five straw-bale builders there, one of 25 in Colorado and only one in maybe 100 nationally. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>His homes can’t compete with conventional stick-built homes, selling for $80 to $90 per square foot. Fuentes’ costs are double, and his straw-bale homes ring in at around $200 per square foot. But it’s still well below what he says other architects of super-efficient construction charge ($300 per square foot) because of expensive materials like foam-insulated panels. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Even with stratospheric energy efficiency, Fuentes says straw-bale isn’t for everyone, describing many of his clients as willing (and able) to make a “legacy investment” in their home. Straw-bale wall panels can be as thick as 18 inches, and Fuentes says that the self-absorbed who’ve bought into “bigger is better” don’t choose straw bale. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Even though he’s tried to make the process drama-free, it’s not always that way, recalling one client whose wife, they discovered, was allergic to straw. Once the walls were sealed, though, he said the problem was solved. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>While Fuentes’ production process may not be a home-building game changer, the energy savings that straw bale affords cannot be ignored. “This makes zero-energy affordable,” he says. “And today’s renewable technology at today’s prices possible.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>-Melissa Baldridge, GreenSpot</p>